Lamentations 1:20
New English Translation
ר (Resh)
20 Look, O Lord! I am distressed;[a]
my stomach is in knots![b]
My heart is pounding[c] inside me.
Yes, I was terribly rebellious![d]
Out in the street the sword bereaves a mother of her children;[e]
Inside the house death is present.[f]
Footnotes
- Lamentations 1:20 tn Heb “because distress belongs to me” (כִּי־צַר־לִי, ki tsar li).
- Lamentations 1:20 tn Heb “my bowels burn,” or “my bowels are in a ferment.” The verb חֳמַרְמָרוּ (khamarmaru) is an unusual form and derived from a debated root: Poalal perfect third person common plural from III חָמַר (khamar, “to be red,” HALOT 330 s.v. III חמר) or Peʿalʿal perfect third person common plural from I חָמַר (khamar, “to ferment, boil up,” BDB 330 s.v. I חָמַר). The Poalal stem of this verb occurs only three times in the OT: with פָּנִים (panim, “face,” Job 16:16) and מֵעִים (meʿim, “bowels,” Lam 1:20; 2:11). The phrase מֵעַי חֳמַרְמָרוּ (meʿay khamarmaru) means “my bowels burned” (HALOT 330 s.v.) or “my bowels are in a ferment,” as a euphemism for lower-intestinal bowel problems (BDB 330 s.v.). This phrase also occurs in later rabbinic literature (m. Sanhedrin 7:2). The present translation, “my stomach is in knots,” is not a literal equivalent to this Hebrew idiom; however, it is an attempt to approximate the equivalent English idiom.
- Lamentations 1:20 tn The Niphl participle from הָפַךְ (hafakh, “to turn over”) functions verbally, referring to progressive present-time action (from the speaker’s viewpoint).
- Lamentations 1:20 tn Heb “because I was certainly rebellious.” Using the infinitive absolute before the finite verb of the same root emphasizes the verb’s modality, here indicative mode.
- Lamentations 1:20 tn Heb “in the street the sword bereaves.” The words “a mother of her children” are supplied in the translation as a clarification.
- Lamentations 1:20 tn Heb “in the house it is like death.”
John 16:8-9
New English Translation
8 And when he[a] comes, he will prove the world wrong[b] concerning sin and[c] righteousness and[d] judgment— 9 concerning sin, because[e] they do not believe in me;[f]
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- John 16:8 tn Grk “when that one.”
- John 16:8 tn Or “will convict the world,” or “will expose the world.” The preposition περί (peri) is used in 16:8-11 in the sense of “concerning” or “with respect to.” But what about the verb ἐλέγχω (elenchō)? The basic meanings possible for this word are (1) “to convict or convince someone of something”; (2) “to bring to light or expose something; and (3) “to correct or punish someone.” The third possibility may be ruled out in these verses on contextual grounds since punishment is not implied. The meaning is often understood to be that the Paraclete will “convince” the world of its error, so that some at least will repent. But S. Mowinckel (“Die Vorstellungen des Spätjudentums vom heiligen Geist als Fürsprecher und der johanneische Paraklet,” ZNW 32 [1933]: 97-130) demonstrated that the verb ἐλέγχω did not necessarily imply the conversion or reform of the guilty party. This means it is far more likely that conviction in something of a legal sense is intended here (as in a trial). The only certainty is that the accused party is indeed proven guilty (not that they will acknowledge their guilt). Further confirmation of this interpretation is seen in John 14:17 where the world cannot receive the Paraclete and in John 3:20, where the evildoer deliberately refuses to come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed for what they really are (significantly, the verb in John 3:20 is also ἐλέγχω). However, if one wishes to adopt the meaning “prove guilty” for the use of ἐλέγχω in John 16:8 a difficulty still remains: While this meaning fits the first statement in 16:9—the world is ‘proven guilty’ concerning its sin of refusing to believe in Jesus—it does not fit so well the second and third assertions in vv. 10-11. Thus R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:705) suggests the more general meaning “prove wrong” which would fit in all three cases. This may be so, but there may also be a developmental aspect to the meaning, which would then shift from v. 9 to v. 10 to v. 11.
- John 16:8 tn Grk “and concerning.”
- John 16:8 tn Grk “and concerning.”
- John 16:9 tn Or “that.” It is very difficult to determine whether ὅτι (hoti; 3 times in 16:9, 10, 11) should be understood as causal or appositional/explanatory: Brown and Bultmann favor appositional or explanatory, while Barrett and Morris prefer a causal sense. A causal idea is preferable here, since it also fits the parallel statements in vv. 10-11 better than an appositional or explanatory use would. In this case Jesus is stating in each instance the reason why the world is proven guilty or wrong by the Spirit-Paraclete.
- John 16:9 sn Here (v. 9) the world is proven guilty concerning sin, and the reason given is their refusal to believe in Jesus. In 3:19 the effect of Jesus coming into the world as the Light of the world was to provoke judgment, by forcing people to choose up sides for or against him, and they chose darkness rather than light. In 12:37, at the very end of Jesus’ public ministry in John’s Gospel, people were still refusing to believe in him.
1 Kings 8:38-40
New English Translation
38 When all your people Israel pray and ask for help,[a] as they acknowledge their pain[b] and spread out their hands toward this temple, 39 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin,[c] and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of his motives.[d] (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.)[e] 40 Then they will obey[f] you throughout their lifetimes as[g] they live on the land you gave to our ancestors.
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- 1 Kings 8:38 tn Heb “every prayer, every request for help which will be to all the people, to all your people Israel.”
- 1 Kings 8:38 tn Heb “which they know, each the pain of his heart.”
- 1 Kings 8:39 tn The words “their sin” are added for clarification.
- 1 Kings 8:39 tn Heb “and act and give to each one according to all his ways because you know his heart.” In the Hebrew text vv. 37-39a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided up for stylistic reasons.
- 1 Kings 8:39 tn Heb “Indeed you know, you alone, the heart of all the sons of mankind.”
- 1 Kings 8:40 tn Heb “fear.”
- 1 Kings 8:40 tn Heb “all the days [in] which.”
Isaiah 6:5
New English Translation
5 I said, “Woe to me! I am destroyed,[a] for my lips are contaminated by sin,[b] and I live among people whose lips are contaminated by sin.[c] My eyes have seen the king, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”[d]
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- Isaiah 6:5 tn Isaiah uses the suffixed (perfect) form of the verb for rhetorical purposes. In this way his destruction is described as occurring or as already completed. Rather than understanding the verb as derived from דָּמַה (damah, “be destroyed”), some take it from a proposed homonymic root דמה, which would mean “be silent.” In this case, one might translate, “I must be silent.”
- Isaiah 6:5 tn Heb “a man unclean of lips am I.” Isaiah is not qualified to praise the king. His lips (the instruments of praise) are “unclean” because he has been contaminated by sin.
- Isaiah 6:5 tn Heb “and among a nation unclean of lips I live.”
- Isaiah 6:5 tn Perhaps in this context, the title has a less militaristic connotation and pictures the Lord as the ruler of the heavenly assembly. See the note at 1:9.
Ezekiel 33:10-11
New English Translation
10 “And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what you have said: “Our rebellious acts and our sins have caught up with us,[a] and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?”’ 11 Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior[b] and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds![c] Why should you die, O house of Israel?’
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- Ezekiel 33:10 tn Heb “(are) upon us.”
- Ezekiel 33:11 tn Heb “turn from his way.”
- Ezekiel 33:11 tn Heb “ways.” This same word is translated “behavior” earlier in the verse.
Acts 16:29
New English Translation
29 Calling for lights, the jailer[a] rushed in and fell down[b] trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas.
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- Acts 16:29 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the jailer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Acts 16:29 tn Or “and prostrated himself.”sn Fell down. The earthquake and the freeing of the prisoners showed that God’s power was present. Such power could only be recognized. The open doors opened the jailer’s heart.
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